David F. Ford

David Frank Ford (born 23 January 1948) is an Anglican public theologian. He was the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, beginning in 1991. He is now an Emeritus Regius Professor of Divinity. His research interests include political theology, ecumenical theology, Christian theologians and theologies, theology and poetry, the shaping of universities and of the field of theology and religious studies within universities, hermeneutics, and interfaith theology and relations. He is the founding director of the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme and a co-founder of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning.

Early life and education For was born on 23 January 1948 in Dublin. He was raised as an Anglican in the Church of Ireland in Dublin. His father died when he was 12 years old he interviewed for jobs at British Steel Corporation and Rolls-Royce, but then was offered a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge and decided to study theology for a few years before going into business. writing his dissertation on Karl Barth and biblical narrative and Stephen Sykes. The result was the book Barth and God's Story (1981). Ford later received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Birmingham. He helped found and chairs the management committee of the Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies at Cambridge. He is a member of St John's College, a fellow of Selwyn College, and a foundation member of Trinity College. followed by the Centre for the Study of Muslim–Jewish Relations in 2006.

Ford was introduced to interfaith dialogue in the early 1990s while on sabbatical at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton, where his father-in-law, Hardy, director of the centre, introduced him to Jewish theologian Peter Ochs. Hardy and Ford participated in meetings of the early "textual reasoning" group founded by Ochs at the American Academy of Religion, reading the Tanakh, Bible, and Quran together with Christian and Muslim scholars. Ford has been an active promoter of scriptural reasoning in subsequent papers and lectures.

In 2002 Ford became the founding director of the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme. Among his activities are lectures at international conferences on Muslim–Christian relations. In October 2007 he helped launch a letter by 138 Muslim scholars to 25 Christian leaders, including the Pope, the Orthodox patriarchs, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the heads of the world alliances of the Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist and Reformed churches, calling for peace and reconciliation between Christians and Muslims for the survival of the world. The following month, he was one of the signatories on a Christian response seeking Muslim forgiveness.

In 2008 the Sternberg Foundation awarded Ford its gold medal for Inter-Faith Relations.

Personal He is married to Deborah Ford, daughter of Daniel W. Hardy. She is an assistant chaplain at Addenbrooke's Hospital, part of the Cambridge University Hospital system. Rebecca, Rachel and Daniel.

He is an Anglican Lay Minister at St Andrew's Church, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge.